Absolutely gorgeous

You know how you imagine Greece? The postcards? The movies? The iconic white-washed churches with bright blue domes? They are for real. And they are breathtaking.

We spent the day on the Greek island of Santorini. It was truly difficult for me to leave. Something about this island touched me. It is so beautiful, the colors so vivid, the paths so quaint, the volcanic rock and caldera such a contrast to the pastels and primary colors of the shutters and awnings. I'm already trying to figure out how to convince Rob to come back here with me some day. Santorini and Mykonos, with another couple days in Athens to try to grasp the sights/sites a little better. Yes, that would make for a spectacular return trip to Greece.

Our morning started with a decision: walk up the 45-minute steep path to the main town of Fira, wait in an enormous line to take the 4 Euro gondola up, or bump along on a donkey for about 10 minutes. Wanna guess what we did?

Gondola.

As hilarious as the donkey ride would have been, I wasn't in the mood to aggravate my back since it's been so kind to me this trip. And Mom wasn't much in the mood for smelling of donkey the rest of the day. Besides which, the hour-long wait gave the sky time to clear up a bit, allowing some nice sunshine rays to finally warm our shoulders for the first time. We both packed tank tops and darn it, we were gonna wear them.

After wandering around Fira, we made our way to the local bus station. I must say, it is clearly the end of the season cuz the bus people are rather testy and not all that interested in divulging tidbits such as fares and schedules. But, unlike the last time Mom and I tried to take a public bus in a foreign land (ask me about Mazatlan sometime), we managed to smush on and off the bus to Oia (pronounced Eee-ah) without a hitch. Mom was particularly amused by the air freshener trees hanging from the bus's ceiling. They were at the end of their season, too.

The rest of the day, we just walked and gawked. Took tons of photos. Posed for photos. Wandered down a little alley and stumbled upon the post card view. Lunch was in a cafe clinging to the cliffs, overlooking the post card view. We shared a Greek salad and a wonderful hunk of feta wrapped in fried phyllo dough and smothered in honey and poppy seeds. Although it almost could have been dessert, we didn't want to miss out on our last chance for authentic baklava, so that rounded out our last meal in Greece. It was spectacular.

Tomorrow is a day at sea, then we're on to Naples and then our final port, Rome. I've done laundry and have used up one travel toothpaste and one contact solution, so I can tell we're past the mid-point. I have been trying very hard not to count the days or look at the calendar. I really miss home. And now I also really miss Greece.

Photo count: Toni = 1045; Mom = 1174